The Smiley Smile Message Board

Granted I'm landlocked and have no insight to the inner circles (LOL) of the BB but some of you here know these things - do any of the guys socialize with each other?  Do they even communicate on a personable basis?

In reading posts about Al's EP/CD, I was wondering just how difficult it was to convince the other guys to:

a) come up to the Red Barn to cut vocals

or

b) contractually agree to let Al use previously recorded tracks/vocals (DFTS)

Al seems to be happy in his own world but apparently has an o.k. vibe with Brian.
Mike is in his own universe.
Bruce seems as if he is happy to ride Mikes coattails at this stage in his life.
Brian is his own super universe and black hole all in one but he has performed and recorded with Al.

I just wonder how much these guys actually talk - either BB related business or just "hi, how have you been?"

Mike's vocals were recorded in an hotel room on Scott Totten's laptop while on tour last year, while Brian's were added round about the time of the Wilson/Jardine gigs. As for the use of 'old' vocals/tracks, as Alan is a voting member of BRI, as long as everyone gets their cut, I'm guessing no problems

IIRC, weren't at least some of BW's vocals from the late 80s?

As to the point -- I think Brian and Mike have spent some time together over the last few years (as in 10-15), when Melinda was working to bring them together. They are family, after all.

Al and Brian seem to get along well, although the touring was odd (Brian seemed a bit irritated /threatened by him in the show I saw.)

But they ultimately have their own families and circles of friends, I'd guess.

What I would be interested in knowing is the connections between band members. With a few touring bands, you've started to see BW band folks subbing in with Dean and other affiliated groups, which is interesting. Gary Griffin goes back and forth too.

I'd say the backing band members from the respective bands stay in touch a lot more than the actual Boys themselves do, although Brian and Al do seem to keep in touch. And I'm sure Brian and Michael stay in touch. And Bruce and David are everywhere, it seems.

Considering how Brian's group has Jeff Foskett, Al's group has Billy Hinsche, Bobby Figueroa, and (sometimes) Richie Cannata and Ed Carter, and Michael and Bruce's group has John Cowsill and Randell Kirsch, and Gary Griffin seems to go between all three; there's definitely a link between those guys as they were all associated with the Boys going back to the 1970s, and Jeff, John and Randell backed Michael up when he did his solo gigs during 1981 and the various one-offs going up to the mid-1980s.

Some of the younger band members all knew each other socially in the '90s before hooking up with the BBs, as well.  Certainly Randell Kirsch and the Wondermints gang moved in the same circles, as did I and Alan Boyd and Elliott Kendall and some other folks in the "outer universe."

I heard awhile back that Mike and Al talk fairly regularly.  Remember, they settled their dispute a couple of years ago, so there's no legal rivalary between them now.

I wonder what they talk about.

'So how's your album going?'

LOL

They probably talk about all of us talking about them.

 :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

Bruce has been in occasional touch with Brian for years. Brian was one of the first people to wish Bruce well after his heart bypass operation, and Bruce one of the first to congratulate Brian on the completion of SMiLE....those two are in relatively frequent phone contact at least.

In a 2004 documentary Al bemoaned the fact that he couldn't get through to his old high school friend (Brian). Soon after this Brian or his people contacted Al and they've been in touch since...and of course toured together. The result of that tour was....strange....but they're still in touch.

Brian and Mike bump into each other occasionally, and seem to get on OK as long as they don't spend too long in each other's company.

I believe Mike and Al are in touch again, if not exactly bosom buddies. Al forgives easily. Not sure if Bruce is in touch with Al....AGD would surely know...

They have a huge shared history, and have all been through a lot. I'm assuming they're also proud of what they've accomplished.

Brian actually seems like a great friend to a handful of folks. I still laugh thinking about him driving Steve Kalinich home from the hospital.

In relation to the question, how do all of the childeren, neices and nephews get along? Did the relationship between Mike and Dennis carry over to the next generation, for example?

My impression, based on what I've seen at the CWF and Landmark Dedication events out in L.A., is that the younger generation of Wilsons, Jardines and Loves seem to get along pretty well.

I second that.  My impression when I've been around the Wilsons and Jardines is they are an extraordinarily warm, supportive and tight-knit group.

Can anyone explain to me what was weird about these shows? I wasn't around back then.

As a fan sitting in the audience, I found nothing weird about the show that I saw in the Philadelphia area. Al was introduced about mid-way through the show. He received a nice round of applause when Brian introduced him and then went right in to "Then I Kissed Her".  Except for some minor guitar issues, Al seemed to be enjoying the show and fit in quite nicely. If there were any issues between he & Brian or with the band, it must have been totally behind the scenes.

Not exactly: Alan pretty much invited himself on to that tour. And then got himself uninvited, apparently. But yes, Brian & Alan are still in touch, they're friends.

Is he now on the anti-Christs hitlist?  LOL

I don't think Melinda had much to do with it.

Listen to AGD: Al kind of pushed his way into the tour and then seems to have pushed his way out of it. He managed to get himself disinvited from another BB-related band in the late '90s, so such an outcome isn't out of character.

I guess they text, are facebook friends, and call on the cell once in a while....as many of us now do rather than visit in person.  It seems to keep people connected more than they once might have